Thursday, March 31, 2011

The internet makes April Fool’s Day shenanigans accessible to millions of people, many of them quite gullible, as any spammer can attest. Here are some of the biggest and best internet pranks from the past few years, in a list I posted at mental_floss.

Epic Literary Flame Thread. The comment section of this book review is a textbook example of how NOT to act when your book receives a less-than-stellar review. (via Cynical-C)

Army Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth was a dashing figure, a 24-year-old leader of men, and a friend of Abraham Lincoln. He was also the first Union officer killed in the U.S. Civil War, which affected the president terribly.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

It’s been almost a year since I shared my ever-growing collection of helpful and not-so-helpful flowcharts found on the internet. The list has grown, and some of the latest flowcharts explain everything from how to date your cousin to picking up food from the floor. See ten of these in this list I posted at mental_floss.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

My kitten waits until long after everyone is retired for the night and then announces to the entire house that someone forgot to close the piano. She is only one in a long line of talented and not-so-talented creatures who play piano. See a collection of them in these videos I posted at mental_floss.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Midnight was born missing part of one leg, and then was so neglected by his owner that he was seized by authorities. The adorable horse was close to being euthanized when the staff at Ranch Hand Rescue came up with a plan to get Midnight a new leg.

Do Not Touch the Frog. National Geographic photographer Mark Moffett went to find a very poisonous frog, but his awesomely funny adventures along the way will make you forget it’s a 16-minute video. (via Boing Boing)

The Wire was a very popular TV show on HBO from 2002 to 2008. If it had been published as a serialized Victorian novel, it would read like this.

Printing a book was different in 1947. The process required quite a few skilled workers performing tasks you won't see anymore, outside of historical videos like this. Contrast this process with a more modern method of publishing. (via Metafilter)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Some people love a challenge. Some people are handed challenges they never asked for. Whether from pride, passion, inspiration, or a combination of all those things, some people are willing to do what it takes to accomplish what they aren’t “supposed” to be able to do. I remember a phrase from my childhood, used as a comeback when someone is told they can’t or won’t do something- “You hide and watch me.” Here are nine folks who took those challenges and ran with them, in the latest chapter I posted of a continuing series at mental_floss.

Randall Munroe of xkcd illustrates how much ionizing radiation we get from various activities, from eating a banana to receiving a fatal dose of fallout. The exponential differences should be reassuring to anyone who doesn’t live near Chernobyl. (via Bad Astronomy)

12 Things You Might Not Know About the Dust Bowl. History class didn’t cover it much, since there was also a depression and a European war brewing at the same time.

Hideaki Akaiwa couldn't wait for the authorities to save his wife after the tsunami. So he did it himself.

American movies are often re-titled for foreign audiences. In this quiz, you'll be given a foreign title of a US movie, translated into English. Can you guess what movie it was in the US? I scored 27 out of 30. (via mental_floss)

A particularly steep hill caused grief for many competitors at the BUCS Cycling Championships at Moelfre Hall Downhill Track in Wales. If you think the hill doesn’t look all that steep in this video, notice the angle of the spectators.

This is the supercut of movie clips in which someone says the title of the movie. See if you can find the one that was said in the wrong film.

Transform is one WEIRD game. You have to try it -once. Maybe twice, because it changes depending on how fast you go.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Parents are anxious about everything to do with raising children, despite thousands of generations of parents who also didn’t have all the answers. This anxiety by itself can have negative consequences for growing children.

Can Bill Gates Buy a Better World? The Gates Foundation isn’t perfect, but there are success stories coming in about what that those billions can do.

From the 1948 Mexican movie El Ángel caído (The Fallen Angel). From the YouTube page:

Not imaginatively shot or edited, the pleasure comes from the campy song itself, the attractive Quintana (with some killer legs!) and the spritely choreography (uncredited but possibly the work of Julian de Meriche, who appears in the movie as an actor). And where else do you get to see someone singing in Spanish with a faux-Chinese accent!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

We love March Madness! We love it so much that we can’t restrict it to just a basketball tournament. See, citizens of the internet love to make charts and graphs (which includes tournament brackets), and they love reader participation polls. Some of these tournaments want your vote to select the winner, others are just for grins. Find a dozen such tournaments (actually more than that) in this list I posted at mental_floss.﻿

Mental_floss author Stacy Conradt managed to find the time to run the Disney Princess half-marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. The event raised money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Stacy got a tiara!

The story of the first moving pictures involves horse racing, a “crime of passion” killing, and prize money. Of course, nudie movies came very soon afterward.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Happy Pi Day! Besides eating pie, there are plenty of ways to celebrate.

Ten percent of all people are left-handed, a ratio that holds up over generations. While we can correlate a lot of things with handedness, we still don’t know what causes it.

A scientist with lots of hair explains Schrodinger’s Cat and its quantum state. No cats were killed in the making of this thought experiment.

Ed Watson and Derence Kernek have been committed to each other for 40 years. Ed wants to marry before Alzheimer's robs him of the ability to recognize and remember his partner.

Dafna Linzer became an American citizen by remembering the official answers to the citizenship test -even though some are not exactly correct.

Atlas Obscura is hosting their second annual International Obscura Day on April 9, 2011. This is a day set aside for you to go on “expeditions, back-room tours and hidden treasures” in places near or not-so-near.

The 1966 hit “Walk Away Renee” was written by a lovesick 16-year-old harpsichord player, which is probably why it stuck with us. You have to wonder how that harpsichord part ever got synched with the bass line. (Thanks, Joe!)

Enjoy 52 photographs from Carnival 2011. And another 43 pictures over here. A colorful sampling of celebrations all over the world.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

National Geographic has a new infinite photo project online called Tropical Island. You can select an area and click to zoom in on more images of native creatures, and then click again to zoom on more! (via Metafilter)

There is a movement among those who study such things to refer to the current stage of geologic time as the Anthropocene epoch, or “age of man.” Does the presence of man make that much difference in the geologic timeline?

Raymond Daniel Towler was imprisoned for almost 29 years for a crime he did not commit. He was exonerated by DNA testing in 2010, but so many years behind bars makes the world hard to catch up with. (via Boing Boing)

See the most realistic android yet: the Geminoid DK. If you didn’t know going in, how much of the video would you watch before figuring out he’s a robot?

You know those standardized tests that determine whether schools are closed or teachers receive bonuses or which child gets left behind? Yeah, those. Have you ever wondered who grades those tests? (via Metafilter)

Inspired by the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop, a family embarked on a street art project that involved no vandalism. See the funny faces they spread all over the town for people to find. (via The Daily What)

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Many mental_floss readers contributed to the list of bookstore cats we met in the previous four posts on the subject -and I certainly appreciate your help! However, many of those favorites don’t have a picture or biography on the internet. Here are some of the few left that do, in a new list of cats I posted at mental_floss.

Out of Context Science is a blog that prints sentences from science articles and blog posts all by themselves. These are so funny you have to check the source links to make sure they are real. (via Nag on the Lake)

A limited edition line of action figures gives us The Most Interesting Man in the World, the Old Spice Guy, and some insurance salesman. For an extra $10, you can get Old Spice Guy in an anatomically-correct version.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

This past Sunday marked the end of an era in US history. Frank W. Buckles celebrated his 110th birthday on February first. He died peacefully at his home on February 27th. Buckles was one of 4,734,992 Americans who served in World War I. With his death, there are no more surviving US veterans of that war.

Reading about the dwindling number of World War I veterans made me curious about the last survivors of previous wars. This post I wrote for mental_floss looks at the last surviving veterans of US wars.

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